DW in the City
by Takenokohime
Summary: D.W. is in third grade and about to go on her first overnight field trip. Will her excitement and expectations be met or will the situation be too much for her? (For DASL's collab series "School Days", PM her for details.)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hey there everyone! My name is Takenokohime and this is my first story for the Arthur fandom! I've been on this site for a while as a writer, but I decided to take a brief break from my primary fandom and try my hand at writing some Arthur stories since it was one of my favorite shows as a kid. This, and a majority of stories for this fandom, will be a part of DarkAngelSnapeLover's Arthur collaboration series, she has some really interesting open-ended prompts so I highly recommend participating as well (please message her for details if you're interested)! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think, I'm hoping to improve my writing from this!**

 **This story is going to be three chapters, and I hope to upload daily. It's rated K.**

* * *

The Big Day

"Today's the day!" D.W. whispered excitedly to herself as she looked at her calendar. "Today's the day! This is gonna be the best day ever!"

The date, January 25th, was circled in bright pink pen with the words "Crown City trip" scribbled across it. The eight year old jumped around and hugged her sides. Even though it was only six in the morning she couldn't wait for school. Today Mr. Rayburn was taking her class on an overnight trip to Crown City as a part of their history unit. The Crown City Museum of Natural History had a new exhibit of artifacts from Pompeii, which the kids were reading a novel on. After touring the museum the kids were going to eat dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant and stay in the Crown City Heaton Hotel, which had a perfect view of the waterfront.

"Ugh...D.W. go back to bed...I'm sleepy..." Kate mumbled from her bed.

"But I need to finish packing! I need to have everything ready to go to Crown City!" D.W. insisted.

"Mmhmm..." Kate groaned, rolling back over.

"You don't even have to leave for preschool until ten in the morning and I know you sleep through everything! You can sleep through this!" D.W. sighed as she pulled out her overnight bag.

Kate sat up and looked over at her older sister, rubbing her eyes as she watched her pack. "Lemme sleep."

"Fine, I'll be quiet. But you have the room all to yourself tonight! You can sleep as quietly as you want then," D.W. replied.

"Huh? You aren't gonna be here..?" Kate asked, suddenly more awake.

"No, remember? I'm gonna be spending the night in Crown City because Ratburn is taking us on a field trip," D.W. explained.

"Oh...are you gonna miss me?" Kate asked, tearing up slightly. "I'll miss you a bunch."

D.W. sighed and walked over to her younger sister and hugged her tightly. "It's just one night Kate, I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon."

Kate grabbed her older sister and buried her head into her chest. "You promise you'll be back tomorrow?"

D.W. bent down and ruffled Kate's light brown hair slightly. "I promise. And I promise I'll buy you a toy from the museum."

"Ok," Kate said, grinning. "I wanna dog!"

"If they have a toy dog I promise I'll get it," D.W. replied, kissing her sister on the forehead. "I'm gonna finish packing now, I'll see you tomorrow!"

* * *

"So are you excited for your trip today?" Mrs. Read asked D.W. while driving her and Arthur to school.

"Yeah, I can't wait! I love Crown City and I can't wait to spend the night there! It'll be like a giant sleepover!" she enthused.

"You're so lucky you get to do this," Arthur chuckled. "I'd have loved to go on an overnight field trip in Ratburn's class!"

"Yeah but you got to spend three days at the lake for your fifth grade graduation. And you're going on an overnight trip to the zoo in April!" D.W. laughed. "Let me have this one!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Arthur said, rolling his eyes at his sister. "Have fun, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will!" D.W. said cheerfully.

Mrs. Read pulled into the parking lot of Lakewood Elementary and looked back at D.W., who was clutching her overnight bag. "Are you sure that you're alright spending a night away from home?"

"Mom, I've already spent the night away from home at sleepovers!" D.W. whined.

"Sweetie, this is different. This is the first time you've been far away from home. Please promise me that you'll behave and you'll call me when you get to the hotel and before you go to bed," Mrs. Read insisted, concern in her voice.

D.W. nodded. "I will. Emily has her cell phone and she says I can use it if I need to."

"Thank you," Mrs. Read replied, digging into her purse. "Here's forty dollars for the trip, it should be enough to cover snacks and a gift from the museum if you decide to buy one. Don't spend it all in one place."

"I won't," D.W. agreed.

The three got out of the car and walked over to the bus. Other families had already arrived and were dropping off their kids while Mr. Ratburn took attendance. Mrs. Read and Arthur hugged D.W., who attempted to squirm away.

"Mom, please!" D.W. begged, embarrassed by her family.

"I'm sorry sweetie. It's just...I'm having a hard time seeing you go off for the night! You're growing up!" Mrs. Read said sadly.

"I'll be fine, don't worry! And I promise I'll call!" D.W. insisted.

"I know you will, but still," Mrs. Read sighed.

"Attention everyone, we will begin boarding now! Please make sure that you have everything with you that you want to bring, and be sure to tell your parents goodbye!" Mr. Ratburn called.

D.W. smiled as she ran off to the bus. "Bye mom, bye Arthur! I'll talk to you later!"

Once on the bus she spotted Emily and took a seat beside her best friend. "Hi Emily! Are you excited?"

"Oui!" Emily answered, grinning. "I can't wait!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, my life has just become extremely busy so I haven't had much time to write. Anyway, I hope that you all have had a good holiday season regardless of what you celebrate!**

 **Also, this chapter will now be 5 chapters instead of 3.**

* * *

City Lights

D.W. watched in awe as the bus approached Crown City. The freedom of being away from home in the huge city was overwhelmingly exciting, and she couldn't wait to start walking around and exploring. Sure she'd have to stay with her group and go to the museum, but they were allowed to walk around the city after the tour as long as their group leader agreed and they returned to the hotel by 5:00 pm for dinner.

"Emily, do you think we'll be able to go up to the top of the Sheers Tower?" D.W. asked.

Emily shrugged. "Maybe, it depends on what our group leader lets us do."

"I'm glad we got to pick our own groups for this trip, that way we'll all get along!" D.W. enthused. "You, me, James, and Cheikh."

"Mhmm! I feel kind of bad for Bud being stuck with the Tibbles though!" Emily giggled, looking over at Bud, who was staring off vacantly while the Tibbles tried to annoy him.

D.W. turned around and smiled at James and Cheikh, who were sitting behind her and Emily. "Are you guys excited for the trip?"

"Uh huh, it should be fun..." James mumbled nervously.

"I am! This is the first time I've been to Crown City since moving to the U.S.!" Cheikh replied excitedly.

"James, are you ok?" Emily asked.

"Yeah...just motion sick...and nervous..." James mumbled, clutching his stomach.

"Mr. Ratburn!" D.W. called in the direction of her teacher and the other chaperones, who were sitting at the front of the bus. "How long until we're there?"

"Miss Read, please don't shout on the bus, everyone can hear you!" Mr. Ratburn scolded before checking his watch. "We're approximately fifteen minutes from the hotel! Remember, the group's you're sharing a room with are different from your field trip groups, and no boys and girls in the same room!"

The bus turned off onto a ramp and soon enough was in front of the Crown City Heaton Hotel. The kids gasped at the scale of the building then excitedly began to talk about their stay.

"Whoa..." James said quietly, looking at the building.

"This is huge! I've never seen a hotel this big!" Cheikh exclaimed.

"I have in Paris, but this is pretty impressive too," Emily bragged.

Mr. Ratburn stood up again to address the class. "Attention everyone! You will now be given your room assignments. Remember, you will be sharing the room with four people plus your chaperone, so listen carefully to who you will be with!"

The kids grew quiet and carefully listened, hoping to be put with their friends for the trip. Mr. Ratburn cleared his throat and began to read off the list.

"Cheikh, Liam, Edwin, and Kyle, you'll be rooming with Edwin's father. Emily, Lucy, Sarah, and Brie, you'll be rooming with Sarah's mother. D.W., Maryann, Wilhelmina, and Lisa, you'll be rooming with Wilhelmina's mother. And finally, Tommy, Timmy, Bud, and James will be rooming with me! These room groups are to remain the same the whole trip, no switching!"

"Oh no..." James sighed, slumping down into his seat while the Tibble Twins taunted him.

"Ugh...I can't believe I got stuck with Lisa..." D.W. grumbled.

Lisa and DW had become rivals back in Kindergarten when they had been given the same topic for a project and the teacher liked Lisa's better. Since then, the two couldn't stand to be around each other. Lisa locked eyes with D.W. and stuck out her tongue, earning a dirty look from her.

"Sorry, if we could switch I would offer to," Emily offered.

"Yeah but you actually get along with Lisa," D.W. pouted.

"It could be worse. We could be stuck with people like Tommy and Timmy. Poor James and Bud won't survive the night," Emily sighed, glancing over at their friends.

"It's fine. I'm sure we can survive one night together," D.W. sighed, getting up from her seat as people began filing off the bus.

D.W. walked over to where her group was standing and greeted them with a forced smile. Maryann was quiet but nice and mostly kept to herself, so she would be easy to stay with. Wilhelmina and Lisa were both loud and outgoing however, but in different ways. Wilhelmina used to be enemies with D.W. but the two had set aside their differences in first grade and even though their interests were still very different they got along fairly well. But Lisa...

"Oh hi D.W., great that you could finally join us!" Lisa taunted.

"Yeah definitely, I can't wait to spend the night with my favorite person in the class," D.W. replied sarcastically.

The two glared at each other as they entered the hotel, followed by Wilhelmina and Maryann.

"This is gonna be a LONG day isn't it..." Wilhelmina sighed while looking at Maryann.


End file.
